1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to wheat flour band rolling apparatus. More particularly, the present invention pertains to an apparatus wherein endless belt conveyors are laid, respectively, between a series of rolling roller devices for rolling, in turn, a wheat flour band before it is finely cut into wheat flour noodles of any desired thickness. Even more particularly, the present invention pertains to apparatus wherein the wheat flour band may be automatically introduced into rolling parts or gaps, such that the apparatus may be continuously operated even in case the wheat flour band breaks and wherein the loosening of the band may be controlled easily.
2. Prior Art
An apparatus for rolling a wheat flour band, which is a raw material of wheat flour noodles, comprises several linearly arranged rolling roller devices so that the wheat flour band may be passed through these rolling roller devices to gradually roll the band to any desired thickness, wherefrom the band is introduced into a cutter or the like. In the conventional wheat flour band rolling apparatus, several rolling roller devices are merely linearly arranged. Therefore, the task of introducing the front end of the wheat flour band delivered out the rolling roller device into the next rolling roller device is manually done. Therefore, there have been defects that, in case a long wheat flour band breaks while passing through several rolling roller devices, it is necessary to manually introduce the front end of the succeeding wheat flour band into the next rolling device. Otherwise, the succeeding wheat flour band will be successively fed and accumulated there.
Even where the wheat flour band becomes loose between the respective rolling roller devices it will be mostly left as it is, will contact the dirty machine base and will become contaminated and the rolling work will have to be stopped.
Also, there have been many accidents where the worker has his hand wound in and crushed in the work of manually introducing the end part of the wheat flour band into the rolling part during the operation of the rolling roller device.
Furthermore, the rolling of the wheat flour band with each rolling roller device is so delicate that, even if each rolling roller device is controlled accurately, the band will naturally loosen due to the hardness and self-weight determined by its own water content or the like. Such loosening will amplify during the rolling step until finally the wheat flour band breaks.
In view of a series of such problems, the present inventor filed in Japan under the date of Sept. 7, 1974, Japanese patent application Ser. No. 108077/1974 for a wheat flour band rolling apparatus wherein endless belt conveyors are provided, respectively, from below the rolling parts of a series of rolling roller devices to the rolling parts of the next arranged rolling roller devices. The present invention is an improvement over the invention of said application.